DownByTheRiverSide
New member
I am a big fan of Proverbs or little sayings about food that are condensed wisdom in a short succinct phrase. I would love to hear what some of your favorites are, especially the older ones you heard your parents or grandparents use. I will share my favorite two to get it started.
My grandmother was a great cook, highly practical and a no-nonsense type. She was known for being good at pretty much anything she did, but without any sort of fanfare. She just assumed (not necessarily correctly) that if one was going to do something, it would be done to a rather high degree.
When someone would say that grandmother was a great cook but complain that they just couldnt cook well, she would simply say, "Well, TO BE A GOOD COOK, YOU GOTTA COOK." Which I have found to be true. You learn through the doing of it. Even though I know a certain dish well, if it has been a long time since I have made it, I find I may have trouble remembering some of the finer points of it.
The other saying concerns people being picky eaters and people not liking certain foods. The combination of us being country and grandmother's no-nonsense practicality meant that we werent allowed as children to be picky eaters.
We had a Two Spoon Rule at the table. Whatever it was, you had to eat two spoons of it. After that it was eat whatever you wanted. And we couldnt criticize the food, the only statement allowed was "No Thank You, I dont care for any."
Grandmother prided herself on preparing foods that many thought they didnt like in some sort of delicious way. If a school friend or other guest was at supper we would quite often be having something that the person didnt care for and they might state that preference.
If you came to supper again you could be pretty sure that food would be there again, only this time in a different form. Several times a friend who had announced that he never ate squash, or carrots or eggplant would find at supper on his return, among lots of other delicious things, a large plate of tempting fritters of some sort.
My grandmother would make sure that he had some. If he asked what they were, she would simply brush past the truth and say something like, "Those are some of my delicious fritters, try some and tell me what you think!" He would have a couple and then in a few minutes she would push a couple more on him. Sometimes even a third helping. (and they were delicious!!)
After it was well-established that he liked them, and as though she didnt remember the announcement from last time that he didnt eat 'whatever', she would say, "Well Bob, it seems you like my (eggplant, squash, carrot, etc) fritters."
The reactions were interesting. Most were suprised and didnt quite know what to say, a few delighted, and at least one got mad and said, "YOU TRICKED ME." (Imagine being mad that you just found out you liked a food you thought you didnt.)
It was always interesting for me and my brother to watch as we had had that same trick pulled on us many times beforehand.
Anyway, along that line, her proverb was, and it is my all-time favorite cooking saying, THERE ARE NO BAD FOODS, ONLY BAD COOKS. I have found that to be very nearly the truth. There are only 2-3 foods in the world that I wont eat.
I would love to hear your old Proverbs or sayings and perhaps the story that goes along with it.
My grandmother was a great cook, highly practical and a no-nonsense type. She was known for being good at pretty much anything she did, but without any sort of fanfare. She just assumed (not necessarily correctly) that if one was going to do something, it would be done to a rather high degree.
When someone would say that grandmother was a great cook but complain that they just couldnt cook well, she would simply say, "Well, TO BE A GOOD COOK, YOU GOTTA COOK." Which I have found to be true. You learn through the doing of it. Even though I know a certain dish well, if it has been a long time since I have made it, I find I may have trouble remembering some of the finer points of it.
The other saying concerns people being picky eaters and people not liking certain foods. The combination of us being country and grandmother's no-nonsense practicality meant that we werent allowed as children to be picky eaters.
We had a Two Spoon Rule at the table. Whatever it was, you had to eat two spoons of it. After that it was eat whatever you wanted. And we couldnt criticize the food, the only statement allowed was "No Thank You, I dont care for any."
Grandmother prided herself on preparing foods that many thought they didnt like in some sort of delicious way. If a school friend or other guest was at supper we would quite often be having something that the person didnt care for and they might state that preference.
If you came to supper again you could be pretty sure that food would be there again, only this time in a different form. Several times a friend who had announced that he never ate squash, or carrots or eggplant would find at supper on his return, among lots of other delicious things, a large plate of tempting fritters of some sort.
My grandmother would make sure that he had some. If he asked what they were, she would simply brush past the truth and say something like, "Those are some of my delicious fritters, try some and tell me what you think!" He would have a couple and then in a few minutes she would push a couple more on him. Sometimes even a third helping. (and they were delicious!!)
After it was well-established that he liked them, and as though she didnt remember the announcement from last time that he didnt eat 'whatever', she would say, "Well Bob, it seems you like my (eggplant, squash, carrot, etc) fritters."
The reactions were interesting. Most were suprised and didnt quite know what to say, a few delighted, and at least one got mad and said, "YOU TRICKED ME." (Imagine being mad that you just found out you liked a food you thought you didnt.)
It was always interesting for me and my brother to watch as we had had that same trick pulled on us many times beforehand.
Anyway, along that line, her proverb was, and it is my all-time favorite cooking saying, THERE ARE NO BAD FOODS, ONLY BAD COOKS. I have found that to be very nearly the truth. There are only 2-3 foods in the world that I wont eat.
I would love to hear your old Proverbs or sayings and perhaps the story that goes along with it.
